March & April 2010
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Ethiopian news
Ethiopia plans universal access to safe drinking water by 2015
The Water Resource Minister in Ethiopia has announced that the Government plans to expand the provision of clean, safe water and sanitation services, covering every inhabited area within the next five years.
According to the minister, the safe water service coverage of the country has reached to 66.2 percent at present from a level of only 20 percent two decades ago. He reported that Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in recent years towards attaining the Water Millennium Development Goal and that provision of clean water is very much at the heart of their development strategies.
This is an ambitious but highly commendable aim and one which we at Link Ethiopia also have as a major focus in our work with schools. When a school does not have easy access to a supply of clean water, it means that children and teachers cannot concentrate fully on their tasks, that the contraction of disease is frequent, and that there is no real possibility of making the school a clean and healthy environment.
Link Ethiopia has put new water sources into a large number of schools in the past few years and this is always one of the priorities when talking with school communities about their needs.
Three young Ethiopian researchers win the Tore Global Prize
The Armauer Hansen Research Institute has this month awarded the 9th Tore Global Prize to three young Ethiopian researchers for their outstanding findings on infectious diseases.
Manaye Mamo received his prize for excellent research in the area of the treatment of skin disease, Misgana Ibrahim for investigation into drug doses for children suffering from tuberculosis, and Haileyesus Adamu for his findings on the effects of ARV drugs given to people who are HIV-positive.
Each of the winners received a medal, a certificate and financial award.
The Deputy Director of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Dr. Abrham Assefa, said that the Tore Global Prize had been in existence for nine years and that these three young men had been chosen out of a total of thirteen to be nominated.
